Scoreless draw extends DCFC's home winless streak to 7

Hamtramck — It was more of the same at Keyworth Stadium on Saturday night, as Detroit City FC again failed to find a go-ahead goal in what ended up being a scoreless draw against visiting Indy Eleven.

DCFC (11-10-6) dominated time of possession (62%), had 11 shots with seven on net and completed nearly twice as many passes as its opponent, but couldn't ripple the twine in what was another frustrating result for Le Rouge in the midst of a playoff push. 

With the draw, DCFC extended its home winless streak to seven. Le Rouge's last win at Keyworth came on May 21 against Atlanta United.

"It's a frustrating night. I think when you're in a game like that, where you have so much possession and so much of the ball without really creating any clear-cut chances, or getting any goal-scoring opportunities, it's just frustrating," head coach Trevor James said.

As time wound down, DCFC turned up the heat with hopes of finding the crucial tiebreaker and a path to three points. Indy Eleven, on the other hand, seemed content with a draw.

Over the last 20 minutes, Indy routinely milked the clock with injuries to the point that Indy goalkeeper Tim Trilk was handed a yellow card for time wasting and there were nine minutes of stoppage time added to the end of the second half. 

"It's frustrating as a player, but I understand it," said midfielder Brad Dunwell, who was named man of the match. "I mean, it's their third game in a week, away from home, in a pretty hostile environment. ... Can't be too surprised, you have to try to just not be too frustrated about it."

DCFC poured on the chances in the second half, where it netted a majority of its chances. But at times, it seemed like the rush to be a hero sometimes overwhelmed Le Rouge, who might have been white-knuckling the steering wheel just a little too much.

"Late in the game, we kind of lost our shape a little bit," James said. "In doing so, allowed them to run up the middle of the field and possibly create a chance or shot at goal, or whatever it would be. ... We need to keep within what we do and keep within our shape on the field, and hopefully get the winning goal, but obviously, not tonight."

Despite winning time of possession through the first half (69%) and netting four shots, DCFC had nothing to show for its efforts as it entered halftime in a 0-0 game. Le Rouge's best first-half chance came in the early stages; Connor Rutz headed a ball up and over the keeper for Maxi Rodriguez, who put the point-blank chance off the crossbar.

DCFC got another massive chance in the 72nd minute when Rodriguez played a ball into the area with a header for Antoine Hoppenot, but the pass was a bit behind the target and Hoppenot could only push it wide. 

Moments later, in the 76th minute, Hoppenot sent a low cross to the area for Rodriguez, whose shot on the run was stopped by diving Trilk. 

Richard Foster made his USL Championship debut for City when he subbed in for Rhys Williams in the 79th minute. 

The consolation prize for Le Rouge was that FC Tulsa, the closest challenger to DCFC for the final playoff spot, dropped a 2-1 game to Atlanta United. With seven games left in the season, DCFC holds a nine-point lead on Tulsa as it prepares for Colorado Springs on the road next Saturday. 

nbianchi@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @nolanbianchi